ICH Gemini launches private equity fund in Singapore

BOUTIQUE fund manager ICH Gemini said on Wednesday it has launched a private equity fund in Singapore with at least US$110 million in capital that it will invest in mid-sized companies at growing or mezzanine stages.

ICH Gemini's anchor sponsor and director Ren Yuanlin, who is also chairman of mainboard-listed Yangzijiang Shipbuilding Holdings, has committed US$100 million to the fund.

The remaining US$10 million are from the fund manager's other two major sponsors - Vincent Toe Teow Heng, chief executive of ICH Gemini's parent ICH, and Xu Fan, a director at ICH.

ICH Gemini said in a statement that its "wide footprint" in China will provide its investment companies with "access to the booming Chinese capital markets" and offer them exit strategies via a public listing or trade sale.

It added that it will focus its investments primarily on the infrastructure, consumer discretionary, healthcare and pharmaceuticals as well as environmental protection and renewable resources sectors.

Generally, its investments will range between US$3 million and US$10 million for promising growth-stage companies and between US$5 and US$15 million for more mature companies seeking later-stage funding, it said.